Soil reinforcement with layers of man-made inclusions, such as steel strips, steel grids, geotextile fabrics, and polymeric geogrids, has been used in the earthwork industry for the past 40 years. The use of planar, horizontal reinforcing elements in a compacted soil backfill allows for the construction of mechanically stabilized earth (MSE) structures that include steepened slopes (known as reinforced soil slopes, or RSS) and near-vertical walls. Examples of facing materials used for such reinforced-earth structures include: pre-cast concrete panels, modular concrete blocks with interlocking features, wire panels formed into baskets containing stones or granular soil, coir fiber blocks, and geosynthetic wrapped facing. Example U.S. patents for such prior art are listed below:                U.S. Pat. No. 3,686,873 to Vidal (pre-cast concrete panels for facing elements)        U.S. Pat. No. D295,788 to Forsberg (modular concrete block facing units)        U.S. Pat. No. 4,909,010 to Gravier (modular concrete block facing units)        U.S. Pat. No. 4,920,712 to Dean, Jr. (modular concrete block facing units)        U.S. Pat. No. 6,322,291 to Rainey (modular concrete block facing units)        U.S. Pat. No. 6,893,193 to Santha (coir fiber blocks restrained by coir twine/rope)        U.S. Pat. No. 4,117,686 to Hilfiker et. al (wire panels formed into baskets filled with gravel or stones)        U.S. Pat. No. 4,329,089 to Hilfiker et. al (wire panels formed into baskets filled with gravel or stones)        U.S. Pat. No. 4,394,924 to Zaccheroni (wire panels formed into baskets filled with gravel or stones)        U.S. Pat. No. 5,333,970 to Heselden (wire panels formed into baskets filled with gravel or stones)        U.S. Pat. No. 6,595,726 to Egan and Anderson (wire facing connected to floor section)        U.S. Published Application No. 20050286981 to Robertson and Ogorchock (wire mats formed into face-support structure)        U.S. Published Application No. 20060204343 to Kallen (wire facing panels connected to geogrid)        U.S. Pat. No. 8,197,159 to Ridgway (wire-panel facing unit with struts)        U.S. Pat. No. 8,226,330 to Blouin (wire-panel facing with wire struts and fabric lining)        
An alternative to the rigid wire-formed panel containment systems is the flexible wrap-face geotextile system. Wrapped geosynthetic faced MSE walls and slopes require temporary external bracing (falsework) at the face to support the soil being compacted immediately behind the geosynthetic facing, as illustrated in the steps depicted in FIG. 1. Reference is made to U.S. Dept. of Transportation, Publ. No. FHWA-NHI-00-043, p. 47, 2001. These often require a secondary, more permanent facing treatment, such as sprayed-on shotcrete or gunite on near-vertical faces and special seeding and erosion control treatments for reinforced slopes. Construction of a wrapped geosynthetic MSE structure consists of the consecutive lift sequences of: (1) compacting a lift of backfill soil, then installing a temporary face form (falsework) on the top of that lift, then laying the next horizontal geosynthetic on the backfill and hanging it over the falsework; (2) compaction of the next backfill lift, then wrapping of the geosynthetic back over the lift; (3) placing and compacting the remainder of the backfill lift over the wrap end. The falsework is removed prior to repeating the entire process for the next lift.
Regardless of the type of materials or construction method used conventionally for wrapped geosynthetic MSE structures, the soil-compaction process in the reinforced backfill zone near the final slope face requires that the face (or facing elements) be supported with temporary bracing (falsework). In addition, these wrapped MSE structures often are limited to linear alignments due to the manner in which the geosynthetic fabric is wrapped back over itself with each backfill lift. It would be highly desirable to provide a self-supporting facing system and method of installing each lift of a mechanically stabilized earth structure without the need for supporting each lift with temporary bracing (falsework). It also would be desirable to use nonmetallic components in the reinforcing system, thus eliminating concerns of corrosion and performance degradation especially in wet, marine, salty, or other corrosive environments. The present invention addresses these issues by providing new technology focused on an easy-to-assemble, metallic or nonmetallic internal bracing system for constructing wrapped-face geosynthetic walls and steepened slopes having porous, erosion resistant facings amenable to vegetation establishment and sustainability.